Thermal installations



March 7, 1961 A. HUET THERMAL INSTALLATIONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 12, 1957 1 ,INVENTOR. ANDRE HUET ATTORNEY March 7, 1961 A. HUET 2,973,749

THERMAL INSTALLATIONS Filed Nov. 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG 3 ATTORNEY THERMAL INSTALLATIONS Andr Huet, 48 Ave. du President Wilson, Paris, France Filed Nov. 12,1957, Ser. No. 695,982 Claims priority, application France Nov. 28, 1956 4 Claims. (Cl. 122-32) This invention relates to vaporiser elements for thermal installations.

In thermal installations, especially those which are intended for the use of nuclear energy, it has already been proposed by the applicant that water tubes, and possibly economiser, superheater and like tubes, grouped in units each forming a whole, should be disposed inside the conduit traversed by the hot fluid leaving the reactor, the section of each unit being such that it can easily pass through a central chamber devoid of tubes and preferably formed axially of the pipecasing, and these units being best groupsd so as to occupy the entire section of the pipe casing.

The present invention has for its object to provide a water tube unit or vaporiser element for installations of this type, which unit comprises essentially a cylinder forming a water and steam container around which are disposed water tubes along which the hot fluid leaving the reactor will circulate, while tubes in which the same hot fluid will circulate could be disposed inside the container. There is thus obtained an element having at the same time some of the characteristics of a water tube boiler and a fire tube boiler. The water tubes externally of the container are connected to secondary headers radiating around the cylindrical container and possibly adapted to open below the water level of the water and steam container, and the assembly of the vaporiser element can be so formed that its section is enclosed within a curvilinear triangle, square or rectangle capable of passing through the central chamber of the installation.

The vaporiser element is designed in such manner that all the welded joints necessaryfor itsconstruction can be made on the outside so that they can easily be inspected and'repaired when necessary. On the other hand, ithas the advantage that a water level permitting the easy discharge of the steam which is formed is thus provided inside each container of the vaporiser element so that the lower pipelines of the vaporiser element only serve for the supply of water, while the upper pipelines and headers deliver a substantially dry steam.

The description which follows, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings given by way of example, will enable it to be better understood how the invention can be carried into effect.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic transverse section of the vaporiser element forming the subject of the invention.

Figure 2 is an elevation.

Figures 3 and 4 are sections showing the connection of the smoke tube to the tubular union of the cylindrical container.

Figure 3A is a cross-sectional view taken at plane 3A--3A of Figure 3.

Figure 5 shows diagrammatically the arrangement of the vaporiser elements inside the pipe casing of the thermal installation.

The vaporiser element forming the subject of the invention consists essentially of a cylinder a, which is closed at the ends by stamped or shaped heads or tubular plates v, Patented Mar. 7, 1951 ice b, 0. Each of these heads comprises a central tube union d, e, the rims of which face outwardly. The water supply pipe is connected to the lower union e, while the pipe g for the discharge of steam is connected to the upper union d. Provided in the heads b and 0 completely around each central union are one or more rings of sockets, such as h, the rims of which extend towards the inside of the container. The unions or sockets h of the end b are connected to the corresponding unions or sockets h of the end 0 by tubes i which are traversed internally and in the direction of the arrows F by the hot fluid leaving the reactor. These tubes i have substantially the function of smoke tubes. The welding of the tubes 2' to the sockets h will be hereinafter described.

Pipe connections are provided'externally on the cylinder a and on the periphery thereof, the rims of said connections being directed outwardly and they have fitted thereon secondary headers k which are disposed at slightly different heights and which in principle radiate all around the cylinder a, as shown in Figure l. The headers k of the upper part of the cylinder a are connected to secondary headers l disposed in the same manner at the lower end of the cylinder a by tubes m which constitute the water tubes ofthe vaporiser element and are welded to the pipe unions provided on the secondary headers k and l.

The tubes m, as well as the tubes i, are distributed in such manner as harmoniously and homogeneously to occupy the space available to the flow of fluid F. These tubes In and i can either be smooth. tubes, or finned tubes, or even tubes with hollow fins and for example of cruciform section, as indicated on the drawing. The said tubes are flared at their ends so as to be brought to a circular cross-section for welding to the corresponding pipe unions.

For welding the tubes i to the unions h provided on the ends b and c of the cylinder a, the method adopted is that which is now to be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. The tube i, which is for example of cruciform section, is flared at the end as indicated at i so as to assume a circular section and it is introduced inside the union h and the cylinder a so as just to reach theheight of the rim of the upper union h (Figure 3). A mandrel is then introduced into the union h, after having heated the flared end i, so as to make the end of the tube i conical, as indicated in Figure 4, which end is then applied to the rim of the union h. It is then possible for the two bevels which are opposite one another to be welded from outside in the direction of the arrow G, whereby the tube i is Welded to the union h. The same operation is, then carried at the other end of the tube i.

The water level is for'example established at the level NN inside the cylinder a. It is seen with this arrangement that all the pipes which are below the water level in principle contain water, while the pipes which are above the water level NN are filled with steam, and as the water level permits an easy discharge of the steam which is created, each vaporiser element yields a substantially dry steam.

The pipe line g discharging the steam is connected directly or by means of headers to the main water and steam vessel n which is situated outside the cylinder (1 of the thermal installation (Figure 2). In the same way, the water supply pipe 1 is connected to the base of said container :1.

As will be seen from Figupe 1, the water tubes in which are disposed completely around the cylinder a can be dis tributed in suitable manner and connected to headers k, I, so that the tubes m fill in the best possible manner the space which is available and which is traversed by the hot fluid F, while not leaving an excessive space between them, and in such manner that the vaporiser element assembly has for example a square section, as indicated in Figure 1, or a rectangular section or even the section of a possibly curvilinear triangle, this. section being calculated. so as to permit the passage of the element into the central chamber which is preferably formed at the centre of the conduit p of the thermal installation. The different vaporiser elements can then be disposed as indicated in Figure 5, which is drawn with approximately half the scale of Figure l, in the space provided inside the pipe 7 around the central chamber 0 as to occupy practically all the space available, so that all the fluid F leaving the reactor is utilised in the best possible manner for the production of steam.

It is also possible if desired to arrange deflecting or batfle surfaces between the tubes m, these surfaces having variable or constant corrugations and being adapted to create speed and pressure pulsations in the flow of the fluid F, these being found favourable for the heat exchange.

It is obvious that detailed modifications may be incorporated in the constructional forms of this invention without thereby departing from the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

l. A thermal installation comprising, in combination, a casing and a plurality of vaporizer units disposed side by side in parallel relationship in said casing and adapted to be bathed by a current of heated fluid circulating through said casing in streams parallel to said vaporizer units, each of said units disposed within said casing comprising a cylinder having a top and a bottom and adapted to form a Water and steam vessel, water tubes disposed around said steam vessel with their longitudinal axes parallel to the axis of the steam vessel, secondary headers adjacent the bottom and the top of the vessel, said secondary headers radiating all around the cylinder and the water tubes being connected to said headers, heat supply means adapted for the flow of hot fluid supplying the installation, a pipe to supply water at the bottom of the cylinder and a pipe for the discharge of the steam at the top of the cylinder.

2. A thermal installation comprising, in combination, a casing and a plurality of vaporizer units disposed side by side in parallel relationship in said casing and adapted to be bathed by a current of heated fluid circulating through said casing in streams parallel to said vaporizer units, each of said units disposed within said casing comprising a cylinder having a top and a bottomand adapted to form a Water and steam vessel, finned water tubes disposed around said steam vessel with their longitudinal axes parallel to the axis of the steam vessel, secondary headers adjacent the bottom and the top of the vessel, said secondary headers radiating all around the cylinder and the water tubes being connected to said headers, heat supply means adapted for the flow of hot fluid supplying the installation, a pipe to supply water at the bottom of the cylinder and a pipe for the discharge of the steam at the top of the cylinder, the finned water tubes being closely enough disposed to occupy the space between the cylinder and the casing.

3. A thermal installation comprising, in combination, a

- casing and a plurality of vaporizer units disposed side by side in parallel relationship in said casing and adapted to be bathed by a current of heated fluid circulating through said casing in streams parallel to said vaporizer units, each of said units disposed within said casing comprising a cylinder having a top and a bottom and adapted to form a water and steam vessel, water tubes disposed around said steam vessel with their longitudinal axes parallel to the axis of the steam vessel, secondary headers adjacent the bottom and the top of the vessel, said secondary headers radiating all around the cylinder and the Water tubes being connected to said headers, heat supply means adapted for the flow of hot fluid supplying the installation, a pipe to supply water at the bottom of the cylinder and a pipe for the discharge of the steam at the top of the cylinder, said heat supply means comprising tubes disposed inside said cylinder with their longitudinal axes parallel to the axis-of the cylinder and connected to said top and said bottom.

4. A thermal installation comprising, in combination, a casing and a plurality of vaporizer units disposed side by side in parallel relationship in said casing and adapted to be bathed by a current of heated fluid circulating through said casing in streams parallel to said vaporizer units, each of said units disposed within said casing comprising a cylinder having a top and a bottom and adapted to form a water and steam vessel, water tubes disposed around said steam vessel with their longitudinal axes parallel to the axis of the steam vessel, secondary headers adjacent the bottom and the top of the vessel, said secondary headers radiating all around the cylinder and the water tubes being connected to said headers, heat supply means adapted for the flow of hot fluid supplying the installation, a pipe to supply water at the bottom of the a cylinder and a pipe for the discharge of the steam at the top of the cylinder, said heat supply means comprising tubes disposed inside said cylinder with their longitudinal axes parallel to the axis of the cylinder and connected to said top and said bottom, pipe connections in said top and in said bottom, said pipe connections being directed toward the inside of the cylinder and said parallel tubes extending inside the vessel from the top to the bottom being welded to said connections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 910,192 Grouvelle et al. Ian. 19, 1909 1,226,128 Sonneborn May 15, 1917 1,428,557 Ray et al. Sept. 12, 1922 1,556,596 'Fey Oct. 13, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS 350,369 Great Britain June 11, 1931 351,906 Great Britain of 1931 516,193 France Dec. 3, 1920 

